By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India’s permanent representative to the UN, T S Tirumurthi, says there are several terrorist groups in our neighbourhood who have rebranded themselves as humanitarian organisations to evade sanctions.
“It is important to exercise due diligence while providing humanitarian carve-outs, especially in cases where terrorism finds safe-havens. There have been several cases of terrorist groups in our neighbourhood, including those listed by this council, rebranding themselves as humanitarian organisations to evade sanctions and use the umbrella of the humanitarian space to raise funds, recruit fighters and even use human shields,’’ Tirumurthi said during the UN Security Council Open Debate on general issues relating to sanctions. Preventing their humanitarian and unintended consequences.
Terrorist groups are taking full advantage of humanitarian carve-outs, making a mockery of sanction regimes, including 1267 sanctions, Tirumurthi pointed out.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 established a sanctions regime in 1999.
Individuals and groups who are `listed’ by the 1267 committee are subject to a travel ban, an arms embargo and an asset freeze. For individuals who are on the list, it is a prison without walls.
The 1267 list was established in 1999 after the US embassies were bombed in Kenya and Nairobi in 2001, after an attack on several targets within the United States, it was renamed and broadened to target Al Qaeda as well as the Taliban.
The sanction regimes have served well in our fight against terrorism, preventive diplomacy efforts, assisting member states in implementing peace agreements and against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. However, it is imperative that sanctions do not impede legitimate humanitarian requirements.
